Sponsorship for Children's Education

The monks survive with donations for food and clothing and with sponsorships for their education. Each monk needs $150 a year for his own maintenance and for the purchase of study materials, school supplies and books.

You may choose to be part of the monthly membership to sponsor a child, the fee is $15 a month. We also accept any other type of donation you wish to give, like school supplies, clothing, shoes or your time and skills.

To put this into perspective, if you can give up one daily coffee for one week that money will feed and educate a monk for that entire week.

Gaden Shartse

Together with Drepung and Sera Monasteries, Gaden is part of the three great Gelupa Monastic Universities relocated to India in 1960 after the exile of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and his monks.

Gaden was the first Gelupa monastery and is now composed of Gaden Shartse and Gaden Jangtse with a total of 3000Monks. In Gaden Shartse live more than 1400 monks and in Jantse aroud 1600.

Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Culture are based on Bodhichitta (Compassion) and Wisdom (Emptiness) as ways to achieve enlightenment.

These treasures of wisdom, so necessary for our society, need to be cherished and disseminated throughout the world. And for this, we need your help

Administration

A board of 21 sangha directors form the governing body of Gaden Shartse Norling Monastery. While the Abbot/President of the governing body is appointed directly by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the other counselors and functionaries are democratically elected by the members of the Monastery. In addition to this body, a working committee of 10 members is elected every third year as well.

The monastery has 3 departments – the Academic wing, Discipline wing, as well as the Administrative wing.

A common kitchen has been maintained since the beginning of the monastery. Since its inception, it is continuously serving the community and strives to provide healthy and nutritious food.

A school for young monks was especially built within the premises of the monastery and it is functioning well to educate the new generation of monks. Various committees necessary to look after the education of the young monks are also well established.

A library was also founded in 1975 with a small collection of rare texts donated by well-wishers which has improved significantly throughout the years. However, it is now facing acute financial shortages and only able to provide satisfactory service to the community.

Aiming to maintain good health and hygiene a small dispensary with limited facilities was built in 2007. Since its inception it has been doing its best to serve the medical needs of the community.

Academic Programs

Traditional monastic education with a modern accent is the focus of this Monastery.

Tibetan culture and religion which includes the unique monastic educational tradition of Tibet, remains the top priority of this monastery. There is no discrimination based on race, financial status or nationality.

Shartse’s curriculum includes all aspects of Buddhist philosophical studies, practices, rituals and arts (scroll & sand paintings), Tibetan Literature and History, as well as other modern subjects and languages. The whole educational program takes 17 to 23 years to complete.

Shartse is not only recognized among Tibetans as one of the finest learning seats of Tibetan culture, Literature and Buddhist philosophy, but also as one of the few active monastic centers for Tibetan studies. Shartse graduates who study here for more than ten years are regarded as respectable members of the exiled Tibetan community. Many of them hold responsible positions at the monastery itself, while others are active as leaders, educators, writers, scholars etc. throughout the world.

Most common needs

The monastery is maintained through agriculture – 84 acres of farmland allocated to the monastery forms the main economic support. The Monastery does not take any funds or grants from the government or any other political entity. It is totally funded by the donations offered by friends and Buddhist devotees all over the world.

The school Principal specifies four main areas of needs:

1. Educational Sponsorships

The cost for a monk’s maintenance is $150 a year for his own maintenance and for the purchase of study materials, school supplies, books and food. You may choose to be part of the monthly membership to sponsor one of the four hundred children in primary school or one of the eight hundred young monks studying to get their Geshe degree (Master in Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy).

2. Desks and Classroom Chairs

The monastery wants to be able to build sixty desks and sixty chairs with durable strong materials for the children so they can sit properly to take notes while in their classrooms.

The total estimate for the desks and chairs is 150.000 INR or $3,000 US.

3. English Teachers

The monastery is looking for english teachers who want to work as volunteers to teach a class for five consecutive months and are willing to stay at the monastery.

Teachers who are competent in Spanish are also most welcome to teach this as a second language.

One of the most important and most challenging educational issues is to provide a good level of English and Spanish. The monks can read and write acceptably but have difficulties in their comprehension and expression of the languages.

Creating and implementing a good language program is crucial for the future of the monastery.

To participate you may contact us or contact the monastery directly.

4. Computers

The computers are old and they lack internet connection. The cost for internet is 17 dollars a month.

In the monastery there are twelve houses where the monks can study languages online as an academic subject if they have computers with internet connection.